Amaral Lab
@amarallab.bsky.social
54 followers 140 following 26 posts
We are the Amaral Lab at Northwestern University. We study Complex Systems, Science of Science, and Systems Biology. Website: https://amaral.northwestern.edu/
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1/ New from @reeserichardson.bsky.social, @jabyrnesci.bsky.social, and our lab in @pnas.org :

A growing body of evidence shows that "systematic" scientific fraud is an emerging threat to the integrity of science.

Our latest study investigates how this fraud is organized and sustained.
amarallab.bsky.social
And of course, all of this is related to this article: doi.org/10.1038/s414...
amarallab.bsky.social
Our @natcomms.nature.com paper on AI for ARDS detection was just featured in the Chicago Tribune and other places! 📰

🔗 www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/28/a...
amarallab.bsky.social
Our very own, Felix Morales, just wrote up a blog post summarizing our @natcomms.nature.com article on automating the diagnosis of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome!

Check it out: medium.com/@fmoralcabal...

#HealthInformatics #AIinHealthcare #CriticalCare #ARDS
ARDS: A Common, Deadly Syndrome That’s Easy to Miss
I just recently had a cool AI in Healthcare paper published in Nature Communications!
medium.com
amarallab.bsky.social
Our latest publication in @pnas.org "The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly", by @reeserichardson.bsky.social, @jabyrnesci.bsky.social, Spencer Hong, has received quite a bit of press!

Exhibit 1: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/s...
Fraudulent Scientific Papers Are Rapidly Increasing, Study Finds
www.nytimes.com
amarallab.bsky.social
4/ These findings challenge the idea that fraud is just a matter of bad actors working alone.

Instead, we’re looking at a system—and one that’s getting better at evading detection.

Full paper here: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

#ScientificIntegrity #ScienceFraud #PNAS
amarallab.bsky.social
3/ Through case studies, we show how:

Authors cooperate to place fraudulent papers

Brokers target specific journals

Certain subfields are more vulnerable than others

Fraudulent publications are increasing faster than legitimate ones
amarallab.bsky.social
2/ We go beyond the “paper mill” problem and uncover a broader network of brokers, editors, and authors who collaborate to bypass traditional peer review.

These coordinated efforts can lead to the publication of fabricated research at scale.
amarallab.bsky.social
🧵
1/ New from @reeserichardson.bsky.social, @jabyrnesci.bsky.social, and our lab in @pnas.org :

A growing body of evidence shows that "systematic" scientific fraud is an emerging threat to the integrity of science.

Our latest study investigates how this fraud is organized and sustained.
amarallab.bsky.social
4/ These findings challenge the idea that fraud is just a matter of bad actors working alone.

Instead, we’re looking at a system—and one that’s getting better at evading detection.

Full paper here (currently paywalled): doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

#ScientificIntegrity #ScienceFraud #PNAS
amarallab.bsky.social
3/ Through case studies, we show how:

Authors cooperate to place fraudulent papers

Brokers target specific journals

Certain subfields are more vulnerable than others

Fraudulent publications are increasing faster than legitimate ones
amarallab.bsky.social
2/ We go beyond the “paper mill” problem and uncover a broader network of brokers, editors, and authors who collaborate to bypass traditional peer review.

These coordinated efforts can lead to the publication of fabricated research at scale.
amarallab.bsky.social
Huge congratulations to the newly-minted Dr. Huaxia Zhou on successfully defending his dissertation!

We’re so proud of all he’s accomplished, and we'll be posting on his work as it goes to press.

He’s now headed to Tucson, AZ for a postdoc—wishing him all the best in this exciting next chapter!
amarallab.bsky.social
This work was driven by Amaralians Felix Morales and Feihong Xu, in collaboration with Curtis Weiss, MD, from @endeavorhlth.bsky.social
amarallab.bsky.social
Congratulations to @reeserichardson.bsky.social and others on their latest publication in PLOS ONE!

They scanned 1M+ materials science papers and found 1 in 5 with mismatched SEM metadata—often tied to flawed results and signs of paper mills.

A potential way to flag questionable science.
amarallab.bsky.social
Driven by Amaralians Felix Morales and Feihong Xu, this work was done in collaboration with Curtis Weiss, MD from @endeavorhlth.bsky.social